Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America

Detailing the corporate takeover of American food production, this book makes clear the corrosive effects of agribusiness and corporations that prevent farmers from raising healthy crops and limit the choices that people can make in the grocery store. Wenonah Hauter, executive director of the corporate and government accountability watchdog organization Food & Water Watch, names the culprits in a federal agricultural policy that has been hijacked by lobbyists, driving out independent farmers and food processors in favor of companies like Cargill, Tyson, Kraft, and ConAgra. She also takes a critical look at the genetic modification of food crops; the harsh conditions of cattle, hogs, and chickens in factory farms; and the pollution that arises from confined feeding operations. Finally, Hauter argues that solving this crisis will require a complete structural shift in our food system, and lays out a roadmap for an environmentally and economically sustainable agriculture.

"A shocking and powerful reminder of the distance between our image of the family farmer and the corporate agribusiness reality. Make sure you read it before dinner."—Bill McKibben

"From familiar ground such as the obesity epidemic and junk-food advertising, to the lesser-known yet important terrain of corporate supply chains and a largest-takes-all food infrastructure, Hauter provides bountiful evidence to buttress her deep working knowledge of the food system.... Foodopoly is politically brave—not just naming names in the agri-industrial complex, but pushing us to think more deeply about the politics and economics that dictate our diets beyond our own roles as shoppers and eaters."—SFChronicle

"Meticulously researched.... [The author] examines the pernicious effects of consolidation in every sector of the food industry. Not only has deregulation and the weakening of antitrust laws led to a significant reduction of competition, it has failed to allow the consumer to benefit from the economies of scale achieved by larger production facilities. More dangerous for our democracy, Hauter argues, the surviving firms have used their wealth to capture the political system in order to rewrite the regulations for their benefit. They have persuaded governments to subsidize their irrigation costs with publicly funded water projects; successfully pushed for the enactment of the Cuban sugar tariff, which directly led to high-fructose corn syrup becoming the sweetener of choice; and weakened oversight by federal bureaucracies, preventing the FDA from testing meat for contamination before and during processing. In fact, Hauter suggests, the FDA is no longer capable of enforcing its regulations at all and must resort to persuasion and, at times, begging.... The book deserves a place on the shelf beside the burgeoning journalistic explorations of the dangers of the current system."—Publishers Weekly